SERIOUS FUN:  Linking UCT knowledge and Red Cross humanitarian decisions through games

How can we accelerate the integration of climate-related forecasts into humanitarian work for risk management? The Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre has been working with academic partners partners through an innovative approach: participatory games that simulate complex system dynamics, allowing players to understand probabilistic information and vividly learn how their forecast-based decisions will have consequences - whether they are subsistence farmers, disaster managers, government officials or donors. Join us for an intensely interactive session where you will experience the tradeoffs involved in real-world decisions, and explore options for linking your academic requirements with humanitarian needs.
 
About the facilitator:
Pablo Suarez is Associate Director for Research and Innovation at the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre, as well as visiting fellow at Boston University, and research scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria. He has consulted for the United Nations Development Programme, the World Food Programme, the World Bank Development Economics Research Group, Oxfam America, and about twenty other international humanitarian and development organizations, working in more than 50 countries. His current work addresses institutional integration across disciplines and geographic scales, and the use of innovative tools for climate risk management. Pablo holds a water engineering degree, a masters in planning, and a Ph.D. in geography.